i grew up in many an environment -- in an environment where we did tend to look to the west for support or help, but i have a lot of friends who grew up on the other side of the divide who don't see the u.s. the way my friends or my family do. but inevitably, america's a superpower, and it comes with sharp elbows sometimes and big motorcades and big fortresses as embassies. and that can be a bit grating on the local population. so it was really interesting or perhaps, um, revealing for me to be on the other side all of a sudden. it's just a totally different prism through which to look at the issue, to look at the eshoo, the to look at my own country. and i arrived, you know, i'm in the convoy, and i'm sitting there in the convoy and just a few cars ahead of me is another car in that same motorcade surrounded by security escort. this is the secretary of state, and there is jeffrey feldman, um, who is now assistant secretary of state at the state department who used to be ambassador to beirut, and it was his convoy that used to annoy people in beirut, that used to annoy me when i was stu